By: GL Oh
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s players deserved credit for their 3-1 win over Police at the Premier League clash at Likas Stadium on Saturday night, said head coach Jelius Ating (pic) after the match. It was an impressive performance as his boys won their third consecutive victory in the new season with two goals from Brazilian import Luiz Carlos Junior and one from Serbian Rodoljub Paunovic to take a three-goal lead before Police pulled one back during the match.
“Thank God, we won again and the players displayed the right attitude and did not underestimate their opponents on the night. “They also showed their willingness to win the game and the early goal did help their confidence. The result was what we expected from them and they fully deserved to win the match. “Congratulations to all the players, the management team especially acting president Datuk Peter Anthony who is so committed to guide and support the team, and also to the fans who came to the stadium to give their support,” he added.
Despite the comfortable win, Jelius admitted that there is still room for improvement. “I am very happy with the players’ overall performance. They have been working hard in training and they are getting better in each match. “However, we failed to keep a clean sheet again. We have been letting in goals from set pieces or dead ball situations which I have to admit is one of our weaknesses that need to be rectified.
“We will work on that and I hope the players will continue to improve and win their next away match against Negeri Sembilan (March 9) before the short break,” he said. Sabah are now second on the table standing with 10 points from three wins, one draw and one loss. They are two points behind JDT II who have a game in hand.
